Little Naruto, Adventures in Remenant
by toadboss
Summary: A young Naruto is sent to the world of RWBY. Can he find a home in the strange land filled with stanger creatures. Can Remenant handle little Naruto. It's Naruto going around meeting people and causing chaos.
1. Chapter 1

Author note: this is not to be taken seriously, it's basically something that popped into my head and I wanted to write it out. When i'm having trouble with a scene in my other story and need to get my mind off it I work on some other things like this.

I wanted this to be a crack fic but I seem to struggle with that but I won't worry about minor details here just a worry free story for me. Chapter two is also mostly done and I will post it later today or tomorrow.

Chapter 1: this is not Konoha.

Little Naruto was ecstatic for he was about to become a ninja.

Naruto had decided to start the Academy two years earlier than the normal start at age eight when he had overheard that there was no official starting age, he even heard some kid way back had graduated at age five.

He was only six but if some random kid could do it then so could he.

Unfortunately it had been way harder than he thought it would be from day one, he was already small for his age and having to keep up with eight year olds wasn't easy. He didn't understand a lot of what they taught and he didn't have anyone to help him at home, it didn't help that most of the teachers ignored him unless they had no other choice.

He was starting to worry that he would fail but he had no other options.

There was something wrong with him, the people in the village treated him differently than other kids. That wasn't the only strange part of his life, despite having no family he didn't live in the orphanage, he lived by himself with an occasional adult in a mask stopping by to check on him.

He knew no one ever called him smart but he wasn't stupid, there was something people weren't telling him.

But none of that mattered now because if he could be a ninja then all of that would change and Naruto had at last received help.

A teacher had seen how amazing he really was and told him that he just needed real experience, not all this useless book learning.

All naruto needed to do was go to the hokage's office and pick up a Scroll without being seen, his teacher had said that he would even secretly put his job on the line and help Naruto out by distracting the guards.

Naruto had latched onto this amazing chance and knew that despite every bad rumor Naruto had personally spread about this man that he was his new favorite teacher.

So that's exactly what Naruto did and he was shocked by how easy it actually was, clearly his teacher was right and Naruto was indeed a prodigy who was wasting his time in the Academy.

There was only one problem, here Naruto was in front of the Hokage's desk but there were more scrolls than there was supposed to be.

One rather large one that was as big as he was and three smaller ones that could fit in his pocket.

"fuck it I'll take all of them" Naruto decided, looking around to make sure no one heard him use the word that everyone seemed to say but he wasn't allowed to repeat. Naruto strapped the big scroll to his back and stuffed the others into his sweater pockets, then just as he was about to leave he had a brilliant thought.

( imagine how amazed he would be if I actually learned a ninjet no a nonjit um a ninja move from the scroll).

"I'm going to make you proud Mizuki" Naruto said as he took the biggest scroll off and rolled it out on the floor of the office.

###### an hour ago

Mizuki was currently terrified, he was about to become a dead ninja and his only hope was a six year old idiot.

All his troubles had started just this morning when some fool spy was caught by the Ibiki Morino, the spy was some little punk named Kabuto and now because of him the Hokage was on a manhunt for any shinobi with questionable past conduct.

He had learned all of this from Iruka, the idiot actually wanted to let him know so that he could prepare a defense for the incident on his last mission before he had become Iruka's assistant teacher and to tell him that he would stand by him.

Mizuki had almost cut him down right then out of sheer frustration, that this bitch would be his boss filled him with enough rage already and now he brings this to his attention now.

So he had set a desperate plan in motion, steal the Forbidden scroll and flee the village after sending the pursuers off the trail with a false lead. The fox brat would make the perfect scapegoat, if Mizuki was seen anywhere near the scroll he was a goner but even if most hated Naruto the Hokage liked the punk so he was often around the tower so Mizuki had lured the little fool in with lies and arranged everything for that very night.

It should have been easy, it wasn't.

First he had to distract the guards. He started a conversation in the front lobby and managed to keep the current guard shift on the first floor while he faced the entrance so he could stop anyone from walking upstairs long enough for Naruto to follow the plan and sneak in through the window as he had told him to.

Then the little shit had the balls to scoot through the front door on his hands and knees.

He nearly died of shock right there, that was the moment that Mizuki first realized that in his panicked state he had placed his life in the hands of a six year old.

(Did that little bastard even try the windows) Mizuki thought as he started talking louder and louder, the said bastard was now making duh duh dun noises for effect.

Mizuki would never know but Naruto had indeed not tried the windows but only because he had stopped paying attention to the plan after Mizuki stopped praising him, so most of the actual details besides go get the scroll were never heard.

"ha ha well I left some documents for the school upstairs in one of the offices" Mizuki said as he quickly left, glad that most weren't aware of the massive internal investigation that would start in a few hours.

The moment he turned the corner he dashed with everything he had to make sure the kid got the job done.

He didn't even make it to the staircase, Naruto was just around the next curve still on his knees and making spy noises.

Mizuki dropped to his knees and wept.

The next hour was spent distracting guards and disabling traps, he nearly lost his life no less than three times. It was to the point that he was almost ready to turn himself in for the crime if only to save his sanity.

However he persevered and at last he saw Naruto enter the office. It was over now, all he had to do was go back down to the lobby and wait for Naruto to pass. He would point him out to the receptionist just before the kid was out of sight and even if he was caught his alibi of trying to stop naruto would be secure.

Half way down a horrible idea came to mind.

( wait what if he screwed it up somehow?, no I clearly told him what to do… I'm expecting Naruto Uzumaki to have actually listened, damit ) Mizuki ran back.

He decided to see for himself, all logic gone from his mind because of stress. He opened the door and saw Naruto pressing a bloody hand print to a Seal.

The next moment a black portal opened up behind the kid and sucked him in.

The part of the scroll in his hands was torn away with him as the rest was shredded when the portal closed violently.

Mizuki again dropped to his knees in shock, how did a six year old kid even one named Naruto screw up a plan this badly.

"This wasn't the plan" Mizuki whispered to himself.

"oh really and what was the plan exactly?" a voiced asked in a tone that made Mizuki feel as if a blade was running across his neck.

He turned around to see the hokage standing there with death in his eyes.

#####

Naruto opened his eyes to a forest at night.

"who broke the moon?"

#####One week later.

Naruto Uzumaki was running for his little life from a very hungry pack of wolves.

It had been a strange week for little Naruto, one moment he was sitting in the Hokage tower and the next he was pulled into some freaky dark tunnel. Then to make it even worse halfway through he felt a violent tug on his stomach and a giant red monster was pulled out of him screaming something about his chalkraaaa.

It was terrifying and filled his head with some very difficult questions about his life just before he passed out

He then woke up to a broken moon and a forest that was definitely not anywhere near Konoha.

If it was any other kid in this situation they might panic and starve to death in a few days. Well Naruto was not any other kid.

He was used to being alone and he'd taken care of himself almost entirely since he was four.

So he laid out what he had, his clothes came first.

Dark blue ninja sandals the Academy recommended, black shorts with a vertical orange stripe that were a bit too large so they ended closer to his sandals than his knee.

He also had a white short sleeved t-shirt with an orange swirl on the front and an orange hoodie with a black swirl on the back.

He also had orange froggy boxers and his new goggles.

He had the torn part of what he figured had to be the Forbidden scroll and the three smaller ones. He emptied his other pockets and found a kunai he knew he wasn't supposed to have yet and and some paint tubes he also knew he wasn't allowed to have anymore.

So there Naruto stood looking at all his worldly possessions with a single thought.

"I might be screwed"

#####

After looking through the scrolls Naruto figured they were teaching guides for genin. One said basic chakra guide how to awaken and manipulate, one said teacher reference guide to teach the Academy basic jutsu, and the last said tree climbing and water walking optional for advanced students.

The torn part of the scroll showed a jutsu Naruto was confused about, it looked like one of the Academy ones so why was it in the Forbidden scroll?

Naruto let the mystery go as he decided to try to find his way back home while taking the chance to get a head start on the other students and learning to activate his chakra.

####

So that was how Naruto had spent the last week, learning to awaken and use chakra and foraging for food as he made his way toward where the sun rose.

Then the wolves found him, and he was running as fast as his little legs could carry him.

"bad doggies go away, go eat some stupid cat" Naruto yelled as he ran.

He dashed past trees and jumped over bushes. He cleared a small creak and slid down a hill but the wolves managed to keep gaining on him.

Then at the bottom of the hill Naruto ran into a pack of monster wolves as well.

He froze in terror as the black massive forms revealed themselves. Naruto looked back at the grey wolves coming down the hill to the bone spiked demons in front of him and shaking he took out his kunai, it was clearly too big for him.

"f fine b bring it on" Naruto said trying to be brave as one of the demons dashed straight toward him.

(I'm going to die) Naruto thought as he swung his kunai and closed his eyes as he felt… nothing?

Naruto opened his eyes and to his shock the monster had leaped over him and both packs were now fighting.

He was so relieved he felt his legs give as he dropped to his bottom.

He watched the battle in awe, the monsters were clearly winning but one did get overwhelmed and Naruto saw it disappear into black smoke.

When the last wolf was dead the largest monster wolf stalked up to him and Naruto froze.

Then it took one look and seemed interested, it circled him and sniffed. It couldn't seem to decide what Naruto was. It drew near to his face and Naruto stared straight into its burning red eyes. The monster gazed back before jerking away liked it had seen something in him that unnerved it.

It didn't flee though, it simple chose to ignore Naruto.

Naruto did not choose to ignore them, he touched his stomach and remembered what had happened in the tunnel. Did they sense the chakra he suspected that thing had left inside him.

Naruto, his fear forgotten as quickly as it had arrived, walked right up to one and started petting it.

The monster wolf looked even more confused, it even looked to its comrades for help. They ignored him, glad the strange creature that looked like the hated creations of the light god but did not smell like a creation of either god was leaving them alone. They sensed something similar to their creator inside him and it was freaky, was he a baby god of destruction?

The poor abandoned grim was then left to the mercy of a young child.

#####

Naruto was happy, the strange creatures he had found seemed to be either afraid of him or ignore him the best they could. That was pretty familiar and not what made him happy, the happy part was that they didn't seem to hate him and no other animal seemed willing to come near them. So he decided to follow them for a bit while he learned chakra.

He even had a favorite that he had finger painted his name on in orange that he named Haru.

"onward Haru" Naruto said from the back of his new steed.

#######

One month later Naruto was forced to face some harsh truths. He had yet to find a single human and his monster had runaway.

It had been a nice month before this all things considered.

He didn't have any trouble with animals as long as he stayed near Haru and the others and they occasionally killed an animal that came too close to their area but didn't seem to want to eat it so that was fair game. Naruto had known how to start a fire and cook for himself since he was five and so far he had only burned down one kitchen that the hokage had fixed in just two days. Which was fine, it wasn't his kitchen anyway.

Then a week ago he had at last seemed to awaken his chakra and could now make leaves stick to him so that was cool.

Unfortunately this freaked out Haru and his pack even more, the next morning he awoke to find them gone.

" Don't worry Haru I'm sure we'll meet again, I know the others made you do it" Naruto said to himself as he set out again in search of people.

The week had gone by and Naruto had started learning henge though with little progress so far.

"I can't find anyone, are there no fucking people around this shithole" Naruto said out loud.

He had started to use words he had heard adults us more often as well as talk to himself so he could hear at least his own voice.

He heard the sound of a river decided to find some much needed water. Hydration was a constant issue without a container.

##### another month passed.

Naruto was getting the hang of henge jutsu and had built himself a campsite in a cave nearby the river.

He had chosen it because it had the first sign of human life he had seen since he got to this crazy forest.

He didn't need to find the people who had made the fire pit and left their supplies.

They were already dead.

He had found their remains nearby with various tracks around them, tracks that looked familiar.

They were monster bear tracks, he had long since found other strange creatures besides Haru that included Bears and some kind of Boar.

"so they attack people but not me" Naruto said as he filled his new canteen.

He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

He was morbidly happy that he had more stuff though.

A week later and he was ready to find civilisation again.

#####

Naruto gazed down at the small town he had found after another month of searching but didn't take a step toward it.

A sudden and thought had occurred to him.

(What do I do now?)

Naruto had concentrated on finding people but did he want to get back to Konoha, could he.

He had realized that he might be on another planet or world like in a movie he had snuck into once.

So he might never find a way back and he couldn't imagine anyone who would try to find him this far. He had long since realized that he had been tricked and maybe now he was a fugitive. He wasn't sure he even wanted to go back so why try.

So maybe he could stay in this village? Naruto asked himself as he walked down the road.

######

An hour later a sad little figure walked back up the hill trying not to cry.

It was the same, the angry glares, the whispers. Being told to get out and stay out.

Naruto didn't understand, he had always hoped it was just Konoha but even in a strange world where no one had ever heard of him Naruto found that he was still hated.

So he left, this wasn't Konoha there were no guards to make him stay here. Naruto walked back to the forest and as he did his sadness turned to defiance.

"Fine I don't need those assholes, I've been doing great on my own. I even taught myself a jutsu so fuck them" Naruto said as he decided to head back to his campsite.

Naruto wouldn't know for a long time, that there was a reason that town had hated him. He had not seen his own appearance clearly in months but his eyes had changed after he had gone through the portal, specifically after Kurama was torn from his gut.

His blues eyes were now slitted like a beasts and he had walked into the one town in a hundred miles where Faunus were not only hated but not even allowed to stay permanently. Had he gone further down the path for three more days he would have found a small settlement of Faunus who would have been happy to see him.

But that didn't happen.

###### six months after his arrival in the world of remnant Naruto was taking a piss over a cliff.

He had settled into life and even survived what was a rather mild winter.

His training wasn't going ok but not great, he had apparently been a natural at henge, the Kawarimi was slow going but at least it seemed he was making steady progress, the clones seemed to be a lost cause so he had decided to try tree climbing. Skipping ahead didn't make much sense but he figured why not, he was also thinking about trying the shadow clone jutsu from the torn scroll. A skill kept in the hokage office had to be better than a basic one.

Naruto was finishing up when he glanced back and saw a bird turn into a person.

Naruto stared in shock as he questioned if he had gone insane.

The man that had just transformed from a bird stared back, he didn't think the kid would notice him before he finished transforming.

######

Qrow had been flying back from a mission when he spotted a kid standing on the edge of a cliff up ahead in what he was sure was the middle of nowhere. It should be at least three days flight to any town.

He couldn't see any adults or caravans, there weren't even any roads near here.

(Ok so this is weird, how does a kid get this lost. Time to be a hero I suppose) so Qrow flew down and transformed back into a man. He had not expected the kid, who he could see was really young and perhaps a small six or seven, to turn around and spot him changing form.

"hey kid are you lost?" Qrow asked, he spoke gently as if he was talking to one of his nieces.

The oldest was close to his age, well the younger one might be closer. The kid was pretty scrawny.

He heard a zip and realized what the kid had been doing, then the child turned around and Qrow expected him to come running and cry about how he was saved.

What he got was a finger pointed at him and a shout.

"Bird man" the kid yelled.

"what?, no kid I saw you up here…" Qrow got no farther before.

"perverted birdman" the brat yelled even louder.

(This little) Qrow struggled to maintain his cool.

"no kid your not getting it, I saw you on the cliff but only from this direction. Your lost right so come with me and I'll get you home" Qrow still tried to speak kindly, the kid was probably confused.

"fuck you, I don't have to listen to some pervert bird. Your not taking me anywhere and my name is Naruto not kid" Naruto said, crossing his arms.

Qrow was speechless for a moment.

(I'm helping a lost kid right? Not some foul mouthed dwarf)

"look uh Naruto right? How old are you?" Qrow asked.

Despite his words Naruto didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave, this was the first real conversation he'd had in a long time, even if it was with a bird man.

"I'm seven" Naruto said like it was a huge accomplishment, having survived in this forest it kinda was.

( so definitely a kid but small for his age, I'm on the right track now) Qrow thought.

"Ok, so are you with your family out here?" Qrow asked.

"Don't have any family, never did. Your kind of an insensitive ass huh" Naruto said.

"woah there, I'm sorry I didn't know. Do you have anyone who takes care of you or a town you lived in?" Qrow asked feeling a little out of his depth, ( I can't even imagine Ruby or Yang talking like this)

"nope, I've taken care of myself for as long as I can remember and no village wanted me. So I live here now " Naruto said.

"look kid I'm sorry to hear that, I know what it's like to get the short straw in life. You may have had a bad experience but you can't stay here. I know a nice town where you'll be treated right, my brother-in-law lives there with his daughters and his wife. Their around your age and they'd be happy to be friends with you, I can't promise you'll be adopted but the town is one of the nicest I've been to."

Qrow could see the kid looked honestly tempted, it was sad how much the promise of being treated properly clearly meant to the child.

Then something seemed to cross his mind.

"no, I don't want to, I'm staying here" Naruto said stubbornly.

Qrow tried a different approach.

"really kid? and what about the Grimm uh? You want to be eaten or torn apart" Qrow said grimly, it was low to scare the kid but he would appreciate it one day.

Naruto looked confused and that confuses Qrow.

"Are Grimm those black monster animals?"Naruto guessed.

(He doesn't know what the Grimm are called, did no one ever tell this kid anything. How long has he been on his own?)

"yeah Naruto those are called Grimm and you know how dangerous they are so come with me" Qrow said.

Then the kid again did the opposite of what Qrow expected, he laughed.

"ha ha ha, the Grimm don't bother me. I've lived here for six months already and I've seen plenty of them" Naruto bragged.

(Six months? Was that true?, it doesn't matter. He's been lucky so far but that can't last) Qrow thought.

"Ok Naruto look I'm not trying to be mean here but you have to come with me, no buts and no excuses" Qrow said sternly as he walked toward the boy.

He had no other choice the kid wasn't listening to reason, he was just a kid after all.

Then Naruto shocked Qrow again when he dashed across the plateau and dived over the edge.

Qrow felt his blood freeze even as he ran with all his might after him, he was horrified that he had just pressured a child to flee straight off a cliff.

He got to the edge and didn't slow in the slightest as he too dived off, planning to catch him and shield him with his own body if needed.

It was not as Qrow face planted onto a ledge just four feet below.

He immediately got up and started looking around, nothing. It was just some rock piles and small shrubs. The little brat had tricked him and gotten away.

After inspecting the ledge, which was only a dozen steps across at most, for almost an hour he transformed into a bird and decided to search the forest below still not knowing how the brat had gotten down from here and only guessing he had already awakened his semblance.

Twenty minutes after he had left one of the rock piles popped with a small cloud of smoke as Naruto appeared looking proud of himself.

"stupid bird brain, I'm Naruto Uzumaki the king of the forest"

######

"I can't believe you left a child to die, how can you still call yourself a huntsman no a man after that Qrow?" Tai said.

He was sitting at the table with his wife and Qrow who had arrived over a week late and told them about his encounter with Naruto.

Summer nodded in agreement though her eyes were equal parts amused at Qrow's tale and concerned for this poor child.

"I didn't leave him to die, I spent a week in that forest looking for him. So you can both stop judging me, you didn't meet him. This wasn't some lost little child, he knew that forest inside and out. I eventually found a campsite but he never came close enough to catch." Qrow defended himself though he knew how weak the excuse sounded.

" you said he was seven? A child younger than Yang evaded you for a week?" Tai asked skeptically.

"like I said you haven't met him, the kid would show up just to taunt me and the minute I closed in he disappeared.

" So it's teleportation then right?, like Raven" Tai concluded what he figured the kids semblance was.

"maybe, maybe not" Qrow answered vaguely.

"what do you mean Qrow, how else could he keep getting away?" Summer asked.

"I don't know how but I noticed something strange when I was there, I spent a few days at his little hideout but I never saw a single Grimm, not one ever came near him" Qrow said.

That got a shocked reaction from the couple.

"Qrow are you saying this kid's semblance could be a Grimm deterrent?" Tai asked.

"Naruto said that the Grimm didn't bother him, I thought he was saying that he wasn't scared but I think he meant they actually don't attack him, I've heard of some having such abilities like it but it's rare" Qrow said.

"it sounds like this kid can't believe he'd be welcomed anywhere, if people knew he had such a useful semblance towns would be fighting over where he would stay" Tai said.

"It's not about him being useful Tai, this child is alone out there and clearly he's been neglected. Even if the Grimm aren't a threat there is still plenty of things out there that could hurt him. He's ignorant enough about the world not to know the common name for the Grimm so imagine what else he doesn't know, we can't leave him alone" Summer said.

Tai and Qrow both nodded in agreement.

"look he got the jump on me last time but I'll be heading straight back in a week, you'll be home for a while Summer so Tai how about you go with me" Qrow said.

The couple looked at each other and nodded.

"Ok Qrow I'll protect you from the wild child but what does he look like anyway" Tai asked.

"He looks like your bastard child, do you have anything you want to confess?" Qrow asked back in revenge for the taunting.

The shocked look on both their faces was a good start.

Though their expressions were satisfying getting Tai to meet Naruto would be the finisher.

He hadn't told them everything about that week in the forest.

#####

Naruto was happy to have something to do, after Qrow had left while cursing that he'd be back and with help Naruto had gone straight to work.

"there, the best pit yet. Now what should be waiting in the bottom? Snakes or maybe spiders?" Naruto asked himself.

Naruto was looking forward to having guests.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors note

To answer some questions in the comments.

This story will be unlikely to reach canon I plan to keep this laid back and I won't keep track of the canon plot. When I'm ready to stop I might skip ahead for the last couple chapters to show how it all would have ended.

I don't think Naruto is that observant about how he himself looks, there is a picture of Minato in the hokage's office I think but he's never made the connection.

That doesn't mean that other people won't misunderstand.

This was not a question but for the Naruto x Weiss comment I'm glad I saw this I had plans for how he would meet so many characters but not Weiss. I now have a idea how I want it to go but there will be no big time skips for a while so no serious relationships.

Chapter two:I guess I'll see the world then.

Qrow and Tai were leaving for the forest, or at least they were trying to but they couldn't get past the front yard.

"why does dad have to go?" Ruby asked, she was holding on to his pants and currently refusing to let go.

"Why don't I get to go?" demanded Yang who was refusing to let go of Qrow.

"we already told you, it just like when mommy has a mission. Qrow needs my help so I'm going to be gone for a little while." Tai said as he pried off his daughter.

" right and the place I need help with is dangerous so no you can't go Yang, maybe when your older" Qrow said as he pried off his niece.

Both girls continued to struggle in their arms.

Summer came to their rescue as she wrapped an arm around both girls.

"Don't be sad, we can have mother daughter time while their gone ok. Just us baking cookies and trying on clothes… oh that reminds me, don't leave yet I'll be right back" Summer said as she ran back into the house with both girls still in her arms.

Qrow and Tai looked at each other in confusion.

Then Summer came back holding a lunch box.

Tai smiled.

" oh Summer you didn't need to pack me a lunch, Qrow and I already have supplies ready" Tai said but his actions said otherwise as he reached for what he suspected were cookies.

Summer slapped his hand lightly.

"It's not for you, that poor child must be living off berries and whatever he can catch so I packed him some snacks" Summer said.

This time Qrow smiled.

" Good idea, it might be good bait or we can use it to bargain with" Qrow said.

Summer stared at him.

"Qrow do not use my cooking as bait to trap a child like some wild animal" Summer said sternly.

"what are you guys talking about? Why does uncle Qrow and dad want to catch a kid?" Yang asked.

The adults turned around to find that both kids were back and listening.

"is that where babies come from? Do you catch them? Did you catch me? Are we getting a new brother?" Ruby asked innocently and a bit excited at the idea of a brother.

The two parents looked at each other, deciding how to answer her but before they could Qrow stepped up.

"wow Ruby your such a smart girl, your right parents go to a special place to get new kids and I found the perfect one. He even looks a bit like your dad. Your mommy caught both of you because your girls, that's why Tai has to come with me for a brother" Qrow said with devilish delight.

The look of amazement on the two children's faces was something Qrow would remember for a long time but nothing compares to the look on their parents faces as they struggled to convince the girls that he was lying while unable to explain where babies actually come from and that the mission to capture a little blond boy was not to bring a new brother home.

It was a good start to what he was sure would be a tough mission.

#######

Naruto was taking a break from trap building to play his new favorite training game, piggy back.

This was obviously not the game kids would play with their parents, no it was far more fun.

Naruto was stalking through the forest to find a playmate and after nearly an hour he had found one.

It was Boarbatusk Grimm though he didn't know this, to him it was the piggyback Grimm.

Naruto launched himself on the back of the unsuspecting monster and then held on for his life while using chakra to help stay on.

The Boarbatusk went crazy and began bucking and running through the undergrowth.

This was how Qrow and Tai found him.

####

"Tai you can't avoid speaking to me the entire time, I said I was sorry and I'll admit to lying when we get back" Qrow said as he and Tai were nearing the area Naruto frequented.

Tai at last sighed, the two friends were near the top off a tree to get a look over the land.

" Fine but I still can't believe they wouldn't believe us when we said you were messing with them" Tai said.

Qrow could, both parents were flustered and did a terrible job of explaining.

"yeah hard to believe…. Found him" Qrow said.

"what? Oh oh shit Qrow we have to help him" Tai said in panic.

Qrow held him in place.

"Help which one Tai, look closely does that kid look like he needs help" Qrow asked.

"what the hell Qrow, don't stop me can't you… uh?" Tai asked confused as he did pay more attention to detail.

What he thought were screams of terror now could be heard more clearly.

"Weeeeeee go piggy go ha ha weeeee" the little boy in the forest below shouted.

Tai also realized that the Boarbatusk now looked more like some demented pony ride.

"what's going on here?" Tai asked, this went against everything he knew about the world.

Grimm killed children, children did not torment Grimm.

"meet Naruto Uzumaki" Qrow said.

Even if he hadn't seen this before after spending a week with the kid he wouldn't be surprised by anything at this point.

######

Naruto had just hopped off the Grimm and was rolling to soften his landing. As he got back up the Grimm turned to him in a blind rage.

It charged but Naruto didn't worry in the slightest, this was not his first piggy back ride.

When the Grimm got within a dozen steps Naruto flared his chakra and...

"BOOO"

The Grimm was snapped out of his mad charge and promptly fled in the opposite direction only to slam into a tree trunk.

"hahaha what an idiot" Naruto said laughing.

When the Grimm got back up it started acting strangely, though to most people it would actually be acting far more normally.

It turned to Naruto and roared, Naruto turned around. Having lived here for so long he knew it couldn't be reacting to him this way.

"oh hey Naruto, what's up?" asked Qrow.

Him and Tai had tried to sneak up and finish this quickly.

Naruto actually looked happy to see the man again and didn't seem to mind the attempted capture.

"hi Qrow, who's the scruffy looking guy?" Naruto asked.

"my name is kinda long so you can call me Tai, I'm here to get you out if this forest and back to a town. The town me and my family also live in" Tai said kindly.

Naruto looked from one to the other.

"so a bird and a bum want me to go to some stupid orphanage. No thanks I'm good here" Naruto said.

Tai looked to Qrow with a smirk.

"Bird?" Tai asked.

Qrow smirked back.

"Sounds better than Bum" Qrow said.

Tai lost his smirk at that.

" look Naruto I know you don't want to but it's for the best, you got lucky with Qrow which is odd now that I think about it" Tai shot Qrow a curious look but his friend just shrugged,the kid did have some bad luck but never enough to be caught.

"but the games stop here" Tai said in his best stern dad voice.

Naruto looked shaken, and his voice quivered when he spoke.

" no more games but what about piggy back?" Naruto asked sadly, his head down.

"Piggy back?" Tai asked, (did he not understand what I meant by games?.)

Naruto stepped to the side and smiled, revealing the pissed off Grimm that was just waiting for the strange being to move so it could start charging forward.

" yeah did you want a turn"

While Tai and Qrow quickly dealt with a single Grimm with ease but by the time they looked around Naruto was long gone.

######

So began a hunt between two of the world's greatest elite Huntsman and a seven year old Naruto.

#####

The first afternoon of the hunt Tai had cornered Naruto.

He had his back to a rock wall with boulders on either side and Tai at the only exit.

"ok Naruto look I'm not the bad guy here, you have to understand that we are trying to help you. You need to grow up with people not alone in this wild forest" Tai said as he started walking forward.

Naruto looked angry.

"people are the reason I want to be alone, people lie, they keep secrets, they tell me I'm worthless and wish I wasn't around, I'm fine here so just go away" Naruto yelled with a bit more emotion than he intended.

Tai stopped,( damn it, this isn't some kid throwing a tantrum).

" not all people Naruto. Me and Qrow don't hate you and I'm sure we can find a place for you to belong" Tai said.

Naruto looked at him with distrust.

"I already have a place" Naruto said.

" does it have cookies?" Tai asked.

"Cookies?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"yup my wife made you a box of cookies" Tai said as he took out the box and held it up.

Naruto gazed hungrily at the box as if it held all his hopes and dreams.

"what kind?" Naruto asked.

"chocolate chip" Tai said.

Naruto looked conflicted and Tai decided that as long as Summer never learned he bribed the kid with her cookies it was fine, besides he had done the same to get his daughters to clean their rooms often.

" have you had homemade chocolate chip cookies before Naruto?" Tai asked.

Naruto looked up at him.

"You kinda need a home for that" Naruto said looking down.

"yeah I know and you know this forest will never be a real home" Tai went down to one knee, hoping to seem at ease as if he was coaxing a scared animal.

" Naruto you have to understand that me and Qrow don't have to be here, this isn't our job. We are doing this because we believe it will be better for you, we're not going to leave you in the first town we see. You can come to Patch, you don't have to worry about being left alone." Tai said.

Naruto seemed to be trembling now.

Tai felt like his heart was breaking at the sight.

He could see it now, this little boy was just lonely.

" Naruto, come over here and let's eat ok? We can talk it over together" Tai said.

Naruto kept his face down and seemed like he would instead walk over to Tai but he suddenly stopped and clenched his small hands.

"you might be lying, I'm tired of liars. Toss the box over and let me see first" Naruto said.

Tai shrugged, there was no reason not to and it would build some trust. So he did just that, Naruto snatched the box out of the air and quickly opened it.

Inside lay a chocolate bounty, Naruto could hardly believe his eyes. He plopped down and began stuffing his face. Though the entire time he had yet to fully raise his head.

Tai smiled, he seemed like a normal child now and less like some confident forest bandit.

He began to walk over and noticed Naruto did nothing to stop him.

(This is the difference between an uncle and a father, I just had to talk to him) Tai thought.

Ten steps from the kid the ground gave way beneath him.

Tai had fallen into a pit.

He landed with surprising softness thanks to a bunch of leaves that were held together by something he couldn't see, though the amount of dust that went flying gave him a coughing fit.

Tai was in shock, the pit was a good eight feet deep.

(How long did he spend on this?)

Tai looked up as he heard Naruto approach.

The brat had a grin and was shining with pride.

" ha what an idiot, thanks for the cookies though" Naruto said.

Tai was silent for a moment and his calmness surprised Naruto.

"why are you wearing your goggles now?" Tai said quietly.

Naruto visibly jerked.

"because they look cool, see ya later" Naruto said as he began to walk away.

"It's ok to cry Naruto" Tai said.

Naruto stopped but never turned around, from the bottom of the pit his little orange back seemed even smaller now but his spine seemed to stiffen with emotion.

" People who say it's ok to cry grew up with someone who cared if they did" Naruto said quietly just loud enough for Tai to hear.

" they didn't have a life where showing the world the pain got to you meant you lost" Naruto said a bit louder as he again walked away.

Tai wasn't sure what to say to that but he wished Summer had come as well, she was better with words.

Tai had his thoughts violently interrupted when he noticed things were crawling on him.

#####

Qrow found him a little later, just after he got out of the hole. Tai was madly rolling on the ground while desperately trying to convince himself that they were all off him.

" spiders? Wow, I'm surprised he found so many. The first one I fell into was filled with pink mud, then he moved on to snakes so I think he ran out of paint." Qrow said casually but his amusement was plain to see.

Tai shot him a glare.

" you knew he would do this and you didn't tell me, what the hell Qrow!" Tai said, clearly pissed.

"oh I'm sorry I thought he was a seven year old kid, even younger than Yang. If he got you so easily how can you still call yourself a man" Qrow said with a smile as he repeated Tai's words from the house.

Tai sighed.

"ok ok point taken but I really thought I was getting through to him" Tai said.

"maybe you were but you have to realize this kid might be happy we're here, he might like us and he might talk to us but he is not going to trust us. I've tried but he just can't seem to take that leap of faith even if he wanted to." Qrow said sadly.

"so what do we do" Tai asked as he remembered how Naruto looked walking away.

"simple, we hogtie the brat" Qrow said.

"simple but will it be easy?" Tai asked.

#### the chase began in earnest.

Tai was chasing Naruto through the forest and gaining as usual when he saw the kid run through a puddle. Naruto splashed his way across but the water seemed to go up to his ankle and he seemed to almost lose his balance.

(Now) thought Tai.

He sped up and stretched out his arm to grab Naruto as he was leaving the water.

Tai then had a shocking revelation, somehow the puddle was not a few inches deep. No it was a few feet deep.

Naruto looked back at the muddy and soaked blond man and almost fell himself from laughter.

####

Qrow was in his bird form and following Naruto.

He watched as the boy looked around before dashing straight through a small waterfall.

(There must be a cave on the other side, if it has only one exit then he's trapped) Qrow thought.

Qrow took the chance, he dived toward the waterfall and transformed just as he reached it, he went through at high speed and thanked the gods he had Aura as he slammed into a stony wall.

Naruto watched from a distance, he grinned with pride. He didn't know why the academy jutsu was so hard but he was glad he had tried the one in the scroll. The shadow clone was just like the henge, it seemed to come natural to him.

#######

" we have him this time" Tai said as he and Qrow chased Naruto through the thick undergrowth.

Qrow nodded.

Naruto ran through a dense row of bushes with both men right behind him.

The Huntsmen ran and ran, straight off a cliff.

Indeed the forest suddenly disappeared to reveal a sudden ledge and they were running far too fast to stop in time. The men fell and as they did they looked back to see Naruto had somehow come to a sudden stop just at the edge of the cliff what he was sprawled on the ground like a frog clinging to a tree.

They looked below and saw a lake coming closer, that wasn't a surprise. Naruto never seemed to go to far.

Tai looked at Qrow and Qrow looked at Tai.

Qrow suddenly raised his arms in preparation to transform and fly away but Tai latched on in a bear hug.

Qrow tried to shove him off.

"let go of me you idiot" Qrow shouted over the rushing wind.

"your my best friend Qrow and I know we can face this together" Tai said, clenching with all his might.

Naruto looked down with glee, the fall was not high enough to injure and definitely not kill but it would definitely sting.

He thought their form could use some work.

##########

"where are you Naruto, this isn't funny, you've gone too far. Don't do anything I'll make you regret later" Qrow shouted into the trees as he desperately searched for Naruto.

Tai was watching from the side with amusement.

" Qrow, to think a kid could make you lose your cool like this. It's just a flask Qrow, you could do with going sober for a while. Maybe you wouldn't have run face first into a waterfall if you weren't drunk" Tai said smugly.

Qrow looked honestly hurt.

"I can't believe you, I don't even remember the last time I was sober and that is not about to change now. Naruto just give it back and all is forgiven" Qrow said as he continued his search.

Then he saw it.

He should have known but he was just so relieved.

There on the ground in plain sight was his flask.

To Qrow getting it back was honestly worth the noose that wrapped around his ankle and he'd even say it was worth having to deal with the Ursa the other end was tied to.

The kid wasn't so bad, at least he knew better than to empty it.

#####

" Naruto, Naruto I'm not angry just give them back" Tai shouted desperately as he searched for Naruto.

" wow Tai I've never seen this side of you, I would wish I never had but this will be quite the story to tell the barmaids" Qrow said in satisfaction.

"Shut up Qrow this is not the time, Naruto just give me my clothes back and I swear I'll get you all the cookies you want" Tai said.

Then he saw them, they were in plain sight.

Right in the middle of a massive thorn bush, it was a good twenty feet of spiked thorns before he would reach them.

Tai looked around for his flying friend only to realize the drunk bastard had disappeared.

" Qrow? Don't do this Qrow I know your there… Qrow?"

###### the week continued in this manner

Tai and Qrow were at Naruto's cave after another day of chasing the kid around.

Their depression at being run ragged by a child was clear.

"Qrow?"Tai asked.

"What?" Qrow asked.

"Are we sure this kid is human and not some forest spirit or ghost? Maybe an imp or elf that got bored, I mean we both know some legends are real." "Tai said, only half joking.

"I get where you're coming from, how can we keep missing him, how does he seem to disappear? But let's not lose our sense of reality" Qrow said.

"sense of…. Qrow I saw him run across water!" Tai half shouted.

" I told you, you must have seen it wrong" Qrow said.

"oh yeah, how's the nose Qrow. Honestly I think it's been crooked since the waterfall" Tai said.

Qrow shot him a glare.

"get all those spiders out of your hair Tai?" Qrow said as he grinned.

"Get all the water out of your feathers?" Tai asked as he returned the grin with his own.

"ok truce. Tai I get your point, maybe we've made an assumption here. We assumed his semblance is awakened and I don't think that's wrong but maybe it's not a Grimm deterrent, maybe it's illusions or something similar? perhaps we are just as affected as the Grimm." Qrow hypothesized.

Tai looked skeptical.

"semblance that affect the mind are difficult to maintain, he's kept up an illusion on every Grimm in the area including us? That amount of aura and the distance he would be covering would make him as strong as a Maiden. There's also his age, he couldn't have awakened that long ago so for him to have that kind of control is crazy" Tai said.

"okay is it crazier than him being a fucking Fairy?" Qrow asked in disbelief that Tai considered his theory crazier than his own.

"yeah it's crazy but so is this situation. Where did this kid come from, what can he or hell what can't he do?" Tai asked.

Qrow seemed to consider all this for a moment.

"Ok, your right. There's something going on here that we don't understand. So here's my proposal. You have to leave soon, Summer has that big mission coming up. So let's give it another day, if we can't knock some sense into this kid then let's back off for now. I no longer doubt this kid can take care of himself. I'll go talk to Ozpin, he has a lot more experience than us" Qrow said.

Tai thought it over.

"ok but let's not spread this to everyone, he's not some little monster to capture. We want to help him. I don't know if it's because he's a Faunus but people have betrayed him before. I won't be a reason for him to remain alone" Tai said.

He could not get the image of Naruto walking away out of his head.

Qrow thought of the time he'd spent chasing this kid. To be honest it had been kind of fun, crazy but in an exciting way. The kid had guts and Qrow respected that.

"Your right, he may not trust us but he doesn't need to. We decided to get involved so no turning back now." Qrow said.

####

Above the two friends plotting the forcefully happy future of their target sat their target.

Naruto was listening in as he often did but different from before he was now face with three issues.

The first was that these people actually seemed to care about him, a stranger that had caused nothing but chaos. Naruto honestly wished he had met such people back in Konoha.

The second was that they were leaving tomorrow but vowed to return.

But the last interested Naruto the most at the moment, what was a Faunus and why did they think that was the reason people hated him.

######

Tai and Qrow started the day with new determination and it was not long before they found traces of Naruto and began the hunt.

It was normal now to periodically check the ground for traps and the trees for a grinning face waiting to drop something vile on them.

But their growing shock nothing happened.

"Qrow what's going on?" Tai asked nervously.

Qrow managed to maintain his usual cool look but he was just as worried inside.

Qrow even took out his flask for a calming drink, something he now avoided out here.

"don't get freaked out, he must be planning something big so be ready" Qrow said.

"I'm not planning anything, I promise" Naruto said.

The quickly spotted Naruto above them on a branch.

"I don't believe you!" the both shouted.

"Hey! when I make a promise I keep it!" Naruto shouted back.

The two men looked at each other.

"yeah? Let's say we do believe you. What do you want Naruto are you ready to give up?" Tai asked.

Naruto avoided eye contact.

"Maybe I'm tired of playing with you two masochist" Naruto said.

"Masochist! After all the shit you pulled you have the audacity to say that to our faces?" Tai asked.

Naruto suddenly looked confused.

"what's Audacity mean?" Naruto asked.

Tai and Qrow paused as they again realized that this was a kid.

"it means recklessly bold to the point of stupidity" Tai said in a tone he used when explaining to his daughters.

Naruto looked surprised then happy.

"that sounds cool, yeah I'm bold and reckless" Naruto said as he ignored the stupid part.

"it does sound a bit cool if you ignore the last part, Tai" Qrow put in.

"let's get back on track here, what do you want Naruto?" Tai asked.

Naruto stared at them for a moment.

"I know you've been holding back, you never go after me at night and neither of you have used your weapons. I know he can turn into a bird and that weird stuff happens around him but I don't know what the bum can do. Why? You could have but burned down the forest or hurt me from a distance so why not?" Naruto asked.

They had been holding back but the reasons why should have been obvious to most but perhaps not to this kid.

"Naruto, we haven't done that because we would have risked injuring you" Qrow said.

The surprised look on his face said it all, Naruto no longer expected decency out of people.

"and don't think we haven't noticed your actions Naruto. There is never any Grimm at night and no large packs in the area, and we couldn't help but notice our supplies were never stolen" Tai said kindly.

Naruto started messing with his goggles.

"yeah well I didn't feel like it and those stupid Grimm would have messed up my traps anyway, is that the only reason?" Naruto asked quickly.

The two men smiled at the sight of an embarrassed Naruto.

"well kid you may not know it but we are badasses, we wouldn't go all out against a kid. We do have our pride after all" Qrow said proudly.

They expected awe and amazement, maybe an apology. What they got was a pitying gaze as Naruto looked at them sadly.

"wow, you guys still have a sense of pride after all this, that's amazing. Oh is it the pride of a masochist?" Naruto asked looking a bit creeped out now.

"that has nothing to do with this and where did you hear that word from" Tai said as his dad senses went off.

He looked at Qrow.

"What? He didn't hear it from me. That's not my style, hell you're the one who married Raven" Qrow said.

Tai looked offended.

"she wasn't like that, if you really want to know I can tell you how we…." Tai never finished as Qrow covered his mouth.

"I didn't hear it from him, I heard it from those ladies that walked around at night back in my old village" Naruto said.

Tai felt his dad senses sound an alarm.

"don't talk to those ladies Naruto,be polite but stay away" Tai said.

"yeah stay away until your old enough, like sixteen maybe" Qrow said.

"Qrow!" Tai shouted.

Qrow looked confused for a moment.

"oh right, kid when your old enough you won't need to pay for it. Hell I bet ladies will be willing to pay you" Qrow said.

"pay for what?" Naruto asked.

Tai looked shocked.

"Qrow shut up and stop corrupting the kid" Tai said.

"look Naruto since you know we've been holding back how about you just come quietly" Tai said desperate to end this conversation.

"ha never, this is my forest and I'm never leaving" Naruto said, the previous conversation already forgotten.

(Ok new tactic, your dealing with a stay at home father of two here kid) Tai thought.

"really? Ok fine Naruto you're right, if you want to waste your time in this forest then we won't stop you" Tai said.

"yeah you can't… what do you mean waste my time?" Naruto asked.

Qrow looked curious about where this was going.

Tai glanced up at Naruto and shrugged.

"it doesn't matter, we're not your boss we shouldn't decide how you should live your life. If you want to stay here then go ahead and live in your boring little forest" Tai said.

Naruto looked offended and Qrow looked interested.

"it's not little" Naruto muttered.

"oh no it's fine if all you want to do with your life is live off bugs, I just kind of expected better. I thought you would want to do more with your life, to see more than this little forest" Tai said.

Now Qrow looked like he was trying not to smile.

"What do you mean more?" Naruto asked.

Tai looked around as if to show the forest to him.

" I mean that the entire world isn't a forest Naruto, have you ever seen the ocean? What about the incredible city of Vale where the last king lived, or Mystral where you can buy anything. Will you ever see Atlas where they make flying ships?" Tai asked.

"don't forget the oasis of Vacuo where anyone tough enough to survive is welcomed. Oh and Menagerie, the home of the Faunus" Qrow said as he got in in the plan.

They could both see how wide eyed Naruto was.

"that's right thank you Qrow, there are some incredible sights out there but I guess if you want to stay here and play in your forest it's your choice. I just thought it was a bit disappointing, someone so amazing would never dream of being a Huntsman and traveling the world" Tai said with exaggerated disappointment.

"a Huntsman? Is that like a ninja?" Naruto asked.

"better, a ninja isn't always the hero but a Huntsman is" Tai said.

"we are both Huntsman, though Tai is semi retired. You can enter the academies when you turn seventeen and when you graduate you become a novice Huntsman and travel on missions. I'm pretty sure both of Tai's kids already plan to enter" Qrow said

"yeah and I'm sure they'll be the best, oh well let's head back early. We're heading out today Naruto but I promise when we have some time we'll try to stop in for a visit" Tai said as both he and Qrow turned around to leave.

Both were anticipating if their plan worked.

"Wait! I won't be here" Naruto said.

(We finally got him) both men thought.

"really? Well I guess you can stay with us for a while, in Patch you can see the ocean and we can even stop by Vale…" Tai was interrupted.

" fuck that" by Naruto.

"what?" both men asked.

"you can't expect me to wait ten damn years after hearing all of that! I want to see it all now, I can be a Huntsman later but I'm not waiting on some rock called Patch.

Thanks to you guys I know I'm wasting my time here. Get ready world here comes Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto shouted as he pointed out into the distance.

Then with a poof of smoke he was gone before their eyes.

Qrow looked at Tai.

"Tai, What have we done"

Tai didn't know what to say, the thought of Naruto going around the world was still being processed in his mind.

He was surprised at how much he seemed to care about the kid but now he didn't know who he was more scared for.

Naruto or the unsuspecting World.

#####'

Miles away little Naruto was surprised at the sudden information that had flooded into his head.

He had been sending a clone instead of himself for a while now, just in case they decided to get serious.

(Whoa, what's a flying ship and where the hell is Menagerie)

Naruto stood up, filled with the same determination as his clone.

He packed his few belongings and set off.

#####

Scene I plan for

Chapter 3 that time I became a bandit.

Naruto knew he was in trouble now!

Some crazy lady in a mask had just slammed a sword into the tree two inches from his face.

"What the hell lady, who the fuck are you?" Naruto shouted.

"my name is raven Branwen but from now on you can call me boss."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 that time I became a bandit.

Naruto sat cross legged against a tree on the peak of a hill, overlooking the same town he had visited before. It was the only populated area he knew of and he needed to figure a few things out.

Next to the tree was a dirt road leading down the hill and ending at the gates of the town, the whole thing was small enough that he could see where the road exited from his vantage point

Naruto had been waiting for someone to leave or arrive for over an hour now and he could finally see a man, a middle-aged fellow with dark brown hair and a short beard with a large straw hat on his head. He walked with a large pack and was heading his way.

Naruto knew that he wasn't welcome in the town but he needed to ask some questions.

His best chance was to ask a traveler in the hopes that they would be willing to talk with him.

Luck seemed to be with him, he clearly saw only mild curiosity on the man's face when he noticed him leaning against the tree.

" hey old guy can I ask you a question?" Naruto asked bluntly as he sat up straighter.

The man paused and looked to Naruto, he clearly hadn't been expecting the boy to talk to him.

"I'm not old kid and you can call me John, what do you want to know. If it's about the town I suggest you tell who ever your with to skip it, they don't treat faunus kindly" John said.

Naruto had noticed the changes to his appearance and realized that may be the reason he was mistreated, he guessed these Faunus guys must be similar and now wanted to confirm his suspicion.

"ok old man, I don't care about that shithole anyway and I'm on my own. My question is why do you think I'm a Faunus?" Naruto asked, hoping to confirm his thoughts.

The man named John was confused by the question, it would be like him asking someone why they thought he was human. Still it was likely a kid just being curious, though why he was alone was concerning.

"I just said my name is John, don't call me old and you shouldn't talk like that." John paused to give the kid a small glare.

"I think your a Faunus because you have slitted eyes and I guess those marks look a bit like whiskers, now what do you mean your on your own?" John asked, he wasn't the type to stick his nose into other peoples problems but no decent person would leave a kid.

" Do all faunus have whiskers and eyes like mine old John, oh and don't worry about what I mean" Naruto said, casually waving off the question.

John blinked blankly for a moment, he wasn't sure what to address first.

"your using my name now but your still calling me old? Anyway, no faunus are a race with an animals traits such as ears or claws, maybe a tail. It can be anything as far as I know. Look kid, are you an orphan, how do you not know this stuff? You are a Faunus right?" John said, he was feeling rather confused about this whole thing.

It was hardly the first time he had met a homeless kid, they were common inside the kingdoms not to even mention out here where a village could be thriving one day and gone the next.

What was odd was that they usually asked for food not about the traits of their own race, they also tended to be timid. No one would describe this brat as timid.

Naruto had stopped paying attention to John and was now thinking about what a real Faunus would look like, then he suddenly looked up at John again.

"hey old man John why do people hate Faunus?"Naruto asked.

John balked at the question, this was getting way more awkward than he expected, he honestly just wanted the conversation to end.

He was about to tell the kid to ask someone else or tell him that it wasn't something a child should worry about.

He couldn't do it though, the words stuck in his throat when he saw the desperate curiosity in his eyes. This wasn't some brat pulling a joke, he was asking him because he didn't have anyone else to ask.

John sighed before answering.

"look kid I'm sure I'm supposed to tell you that it's a complicated issue and how it all began so long ago that it's hard to tell what started it all but to be honest there is no good reason. In my experience a lot of people look for an excuse to look down and take advantage of others and the Faunus are an easy target. As for the rest of us? Well we tend not to care enough to make it our problem as well" John said.

It was probably too harsh a reality to tell a kid but he could tell that some half hearted answer wouldn't satisfy the boy. It only took one look before anybody could guess the child had not lived an easy life.

Naruto looked away and down to the town, he knew he wasn't a real Faunus but he apparently looked like one. In this strange place that was far from Konoha he would still be treated poorly, that was upsetting, as was the fact that it seemed the only reason for it was that people were assholes.

For the briefest of moments the idea of simply changing his appearance crossed his mind, if he looked like a normal human than they would treat him better. But it was only for an instant before the thought was wiped away, Naruto stood and pointed at John as he made a declaration.

"I'm fucking awesome so fuck those bastards, I look great with these marks and my eyes look wicked cool, right ancient John" Naruto said loudly

.

" kid I'm not ancient I'm only forty" John said.

Naruto blinked blankly at him.

"wow that is old, any way I'll see ya around beardy I've got things to do and places to see. Thanks for talking with me" Naruto said before starting down the hill.

"forty is not old" John mumbled to himself, then he realized where Naruto was going.

"wait kid that town isn't safe for you! Listen, if you are alone then I can take you to a larger city closer to Vale, they can take care of you there" John shouted down to Naruto, despite how odd the kid was he couldn't let a Faunus child stay near a town like this.

Naruto stopped and looks back up at him, for a moment his gaze seemed too sharp to come from a child before softening.

"I guess not all people are assholes eh John? Don't worry about me, I'm Naruto Uzumaki no one stops me, besides you should worry about that Grimm behind you first" Naruto said as he pointed back up the hill.

The sound of sticks cracking sounded out behind him.

John spun around and reached for a handle that had been hidden in his jacket, but he saw no Grimm. John looked back down the hill only to see the kid was gone.

John looked for the kid and even went back to the town and asked about a blond boy but the men at the entrance stated no one had entered since he left.

John was left with no choice but to go on his way.

######

Naruto was sitting on the roof of a building near the center of town where he was thinking over the memories his clones had given him once they dispelled.

He was no longer as trusting as he had been, he had actually entered the town early that morning and decided to leave two clones on the hill to ask a passerby the questions.

"fucking pricks, I'll give you something to remember me by before I leave this dump"

A short while later a boy with black spiked hair walked out of a store with his hands full of paint supplies. If this had been Konoha some would think he looked like Shikamaru but a closer examination would reveal some mistakes, his eyebrows were too thick and his hair the wrong shade. It wasn't a complete failure but Naruto had realized that transforming into another person was harder than turning into a rock. Still this was not Konoha so it did not matter if it wasn't a perfect match as long as he still got everything he needed.

######

Later that night when most of the town was asleep Naruto sneaked around the main street.

He created a dozen clones and they descended on the storefronts with paint.

The clones were staying out of sight by crawling on the buildings using chakra and putting his art in places that wouldn't be easily seen before the sun was up, Naruto spent most of the night on his project before quietly leaving.

When the shopkeepers woke up the next morning they quickly discovered that their main street was covered in curse words, describing the residents with every insult Naruto had ever heard and crude art not fit for the eyes of children.

From one of the roofs a clone of Naruto watched the scene from a concealed position, he had no plans to reveal that he was the culprit. He would not give the people a reason to blame a Faunus, he just wanted to see the reactions. After hearing the cries of anger and outrage at how some punk had defaced their homes clone Naruto dispelled.

Already a mile away the real Naruto suddenly laughed.

"Ha, fucking bastards deserved that and more, their lucky I didn't decide to stay awhile and show them what I can really do" Naruto bragged loudly to no one, back to talking out loud to himself.

#######

Two days later Naruto was quickly growing bored of walking with nothing happening, there didn't even seem to be any interesting grimm nearby for him to play with, luckily he noticed a sign next to the road.

" awesome, finally something besides trees and rocks" Naruto said aloud as he tried to read the name of what he hoped would be a nearby town.

" Pertinacity? What kind of name is that supposed to be, well I hope their not a bunch of jerks" Naruto said as he continued on his way.

It was only an hour later when Naruto heard the rapid fire of a weapon, he looked to his right where the sound seemed to originate.

Naruto immediately decided to investigate, maybe the howls he heard were from his old friend Haru.

It took only moments before he reached the edge of a small encampment that was under attack from a half dozen beowolfs.

Naruto was tempted at first to assist them and scare off the Grimm. He could imagine popping out like a hero and saving the day but he hesitated, his experience with people making him almost instinctively observe more carefully before revealing himself.

Several things soon caught his attention, the first being that none of the Grimm were Haru and then seeing the eight men were all armed well enough to deal with the pack without trouble. They calmly defended their camp, seven of the men sweeping out in a clearly planned formation while the last commanded from the rear.

He was the one that stood out the most, a tall and almost sickly thin man in his twenties with dark grey hair cut short in a military style. His pale complexion stood out against the dark fabric of his clothing, an open black long coat revealing a gray shirt and dark blue pants with a black gun belt with two holsters. One holding an unadorned grey revolver, the other was held casually by his side never firing but always ready.

But it was his eyes that held Naruto's attention the most. They were sharp and brilliantly pale blue , the look in those eyes are what convinced Naruto more than anything else not to reveal himself.

They seemed to almost shine with a cold light, even when his men seemed to come close to danger his calculating gaze never wavered and it was clear their loss would only be a minor change to his plans and nothing more.

The rest of the men seemed to be an almost stereotypical bunch of thugs, all of them were bulky brutes wearing rough plain clothing, the easiest way to tell them apart was through the varying degrees of facial hair and how many times they'd likely had their noses broken in a bar fight.

Naruto kept low and when the men's attention was clearly turned toward a particularly aggressive Grimm he henged into a small bush. As he did the camp faced its first real difficulty, most of the Grimm were either dead or had fled but the same violent one as before was refusing to be forced back.

The beast dodged and retaliated again and again, the spiked hammer of one man missed it by inches with the large human only just managing to correct his balance quick enough to avoid getting disemboweled. Two other men kept trying to line up a shot with their dust rifles but the Grimm seemed to know better than to let that happen. It would move erratically and always keeping the hammer wielder between it and the gunmen, if the vanguard attempted to retreat than the Grimm immediately charged into attack.

Throughout this stale mate the other grim had been dispatched and the men were now moving in to finish the troublesome beowolf, even the leader also began to move in as if bored of the situation.

That's when the Grimm made its move, it took the next hammer blow on its shoulder and rushed in. The beowolf bit down on the man's wrist and gripped his arms, the man screamed in pain, his Aura the only thing stopping the grimm from tearing his arm off. Its body gave a mighty twist as it threw it's victim at the blue eyed man.

From his position Naruto could see the Grimm dash toward them both and it seemed to almost grin in delight at the thought of tearing both men apart when they crashed into each other.

The blue eyed man took in the entire situation calmly, he saw his lackey flying toward him with his Aura drained and could easily guess the Grimm's plan.

Then just as calmly he raised his revolver and fired straight at the man flying towards him, stepping back slowly and steadily at the same time.

Naruto watched as a bullet went through the side of the man's torso, as it exited the bullet suddenly took on a silver glow and Naruto heard a small boom as it seemed to increase in speed and force before blowing away the head of the Grimm.

.

" you fucking bastahhh" started to say the man who had been shot before suddenly cutting off with a new round of screaming.

This was caused by the tall man having suddenly appeared over him and stepping down on his wound, his lean form towering over the man as he bent down and pressed his gun to the man's head, leaving him no choice but to listen in pained silence.

"I've told you before, you will address me as and your unfortunate situation is not an excuse for rudeness. Now as for your grievances, well I did what I had to do, so are we going to move past this or do I have to make sure this one isn't a flesh wound?" Mr. Kohva asked, his voice sounding flat and cold throughout.

The prone man beneath his boot looked up into his cold eyes and knew he would follow through with his words, did not lie and he would not be the first of his crew to call his bluff and end up a body left for the wildlife.

The large man gritted his teeth and grunted out his words, " of course Mr. Kohva, I'm sorry for my rudeness".

" that's good to hear, now boys despite the interruption I believe it would be best to continue going over the details of what we will be doing tomorrow. So once Frank here is seen to and the camp is put back to order, notify me" Mr. Kohva said, before walking into his tent.

As the men began to follow orders Naruto was left thinking over what he should do from here, he first considered trying to leave immediately but the camp seemed more vigilant as he could see the men casting wary glances at the surrounding forest and at their leaders tent.

So Naruto realized he was stuck in hiding until they either dropped their guard or went to sleep.

So he did what every child hated the most, he sat quietly for what he would later swear was hours but was in fact no more than half of one.

The wait was made all the worse when he realized he had to pee.

His boredom was ended when the men gathered together and sat on some logs in the center of camp.

He couldn't see much from his spot in the bushes on the edge of the clearing but he could hear clearly enough, so he heard the man named Mr. Kohva begin the meeting.

" Well then, let me explain what we're doing here, welcome to Pertinacity, a town founded by a group of Faunus along with a few down on their luck humans. A ragtag group of outcasts who have struggled to survive in this cruel world. Not an easy task, but that hard work is about to pay off. A year ago they discovered a small vein of Dust, on land they legally owned by the laws of the kingdom of Vale." while he spoke the man appeared theatrical, his voice was smooth and his hands moved elegantly as if he was telling a favorite story.

His eyes however never lost their cold and emotionless gleam, the contrast between his actions and his gaze left his listeners unsettled.

" However they don't have a business yet, they must prove to an inspector that they can safely operate the Dust mine and be approved for the sale of such a volatile substance", Mr. Kohva paused here to look over his men.

" Despite the lobbying of our current employer the inspector has been sent and will arrive in two days at most and accompanied by Huntsmen, courtesy of Ozpin. So as you can imagine we are pressed for time, tonight we will begin arranging an accident that will show how unprepared the town is to run a Dust mine. Now I'm sure I will regret this but any questions?" Mr. Kohva reluctantly asked.

One of the men did indeed stand to voice his opinion.

" yeah Mr. Kohva, why is the Shn…" the sound of a gun hammer being cocked back stopped him cold.

"No names" said Mr. Kohva, reminding the dimwit of the rule not to disclose the names of anyone they worked for.

The thug nodded nervously before continuing, " um yes of course, why does our employer even care about some Faunus town with a tiny Dust mine. There's no way they can sell it to a distributor without going through our employer. Why go through the trouble of sending a crew like us?" asked the thug.

put his weapon away and stood, giving a cold smile to the thug as he walked around the men.

"Well now I'm surprised you've put so much thought into this, surprised but not impressed, so I am going to try to put this simply. Imagine, if you can, that one of you decided to quit, not a great loss I assure you. However, if one of you decided to start your own crew and in my area of operation, well how would it make me look if I allowed such disrespect?" Mr. Kohva paused and looked over his men, they avoided his gaze as if afraid he would think one of them had ever considered the idea.

" It would make me look weak, that's why we're here, this town is run by Faunus working in defiance of our employer and that makes him look weak " stopped, leaning back against a tree.

The mocking smile on his face revealed how little he cared for his employer despite his words.

"Now then since we're done with questions let's get back to orders…" continued to lay out the plan.

As he did Naruto continued to listen, the plan was simple, one of the men would use his semblance to put the night guard to sleep while another would use his to muffle any noise. The rest would either keep guard or dig holes in the walls of the mine where they would place small explosive charges set to go off when sent a signal using his scroll.

"Um, Mr. Kohva what happens if we get caught?" asked one of the men.

placed his hand on the shoulder of the man with the ability to ease people to sleep, a rather useless power until he joined up with this crew.

"That is why it is important that the guard is asleep before he spots us and awake after we leave, remember Faunus have much better senses than most humans so do not underestimate them," Mr. Kohva said, putting enough pressure to make it clear what would happen should he fail.

"However should we be discovered… well small settlements go missing outside the kingdoms all the time, the nearest CCT tower is weeks by foot so even the inspection team would be unaware until they arrived in person. However it may bring scrutiny from the kingdoms to our employer, so that will have to be a last resort. Though once the inspector arrives then we have no choice but to retreat" Mr. Kohva said, his voice making it clear what would happen to them should that happen.

################

The men soon finished their meeting with the final orders being to post a guard and get what sleep they could before tonight's operation.

It was while the men were deciding the order of guard duty that Naruto managed to slip away from the campsite unnoticed, making it back to the road.

Naruto stood still for a moment before hunching his shoulders as if he were cold, he started walking, until he reached a fork in the road. On his right was another sign reading Pertinacity, on his left were several other signs with various names.

This was clearly the last time the road would split before ending in the town those men were targeting.

Naruto looked around as if not realizing how he had gotten there, he walked forward until he reached the right sign and sat down against it. Naruto brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, for the first time in a long time Naruto felt his age.

He hadn't understood everything those men were talking about but he knew what they were planning was wrong, but he didn't know what he should do about it.

That man had said he would kill the entire town if they found out what they were doing, Naruto thought about waiting for this inspector guy but he had no idea when they would blow the mine.

" Why should I care?" Naruto mumbled to himself bitterly.

He didn't know anyone in the town, and who cared if they lost the mine. They could just do something else.

Naruto stood and began to walk to the left but Naruto couldn't stop the tiny thought that wouldn't go away, it was supposed to be full of Faunus and outcasts. A town of people who had no choice but to live there because they were out of options.

He stopped again for a moment before continuing left.

" Fuck it, it's not like I can do anything about it, besides it's not my problem"

The moment the words left his lips Naruto froze, feeling stunned as he felt a deep chill run down his spine.

Those words, he had heard such similar words from John, Naruto remembered the disgust he had felt at hearing them.

Suddenly Naruto felt dizzy as memories seemed to flash through his mind, not everyone in Konoha had treated him poorly. No, most simply turned a blind eye.

After all, it wasn't their problem.

Naruto saw the left path differently now, he could see all the people that had turned away from him. A hundred shadowy figures, faceless and hunched, all of them avoiding his gaze as they walked away.

He spun around and looked to the right path, he could see figures walking down it as well but they weren't shadows to be forgotten.

He could see Qrow and Tai, covered in paint and dirt from running around the forest, trying to do the right thing, he saw John dashing down the road to look for him. Then Naruto saw old man Teuchi and his daughter, he saw them keeping a seat open for him even if other people left the moment they spotted him.

There weren't many people on that path but to Naruto they seemed to shine all the more brightly because of it.

The vision dissipated, leaving Naruto's gaze clear and brimming with determination.

Naruto began to walk toward Pertinacity, before he again stopped.

A few minutes later Naruto was pulling his tattered pants up, a new hero heading towards his uncertain future.

Unaware that he was being carefully observed.

#######

Raven Branwen was currently considering what her next move would be as she watched a kid walk toward what would likely be his death, and to think this odd day had begun rather normally.

The tribe was going to move to new territory soon and Raven had decided to investigate the area near the new town of Pertinacity.

They had heard it may soon have some financial success and that made it a potential target, along with another town that was just a few days further into the wilderness.

Raven and the tribe considered themselves very progressive when it came to raiding, they never discriminated.

However she had heard rumors that Mr. Kohva had been sent to make sure the mining town never saw that prosperity. This did not matter much to Raven, there were plenty of other places to settle in for a while.

She had however decided to confirm if it was true, she arrived alone on the outskirts of the town and it did not take her long to find and his crew.

Raven had no trouble sneaking around the camp, and it was made all the easier when she decided to herd a pack of Grimm into the area to cause trouble.

So Raven was relaxing on a comfortable branch and watching the chaos she caused, she never worried about being discovered. Kohva could be dangerous but he was not in his element in the forest, and his men barely crossed her mind. He tended to pick men based on their Semblance or how much they could lift, never on their intelligence.

The man was too paranoid to work with someone as capable as himself. Still he was good at putting seemingly useless people to good use.

So Raven was watching the men follow orders like good little hunting dogs when she saw a small boy approach the camp unseen.

She blinked in mild shock at the odd occurrence.

(not bad) Raven thought, the boy moved like he was used to the forest.

Then he suddenly stopped and poked his head out of a bush to see what was going on, he immediately hid again but if the camp had not been distracted then they would have seen him instantly. She was honestly surprised they hadn't.

Raven sighed internally before thinking,( not bad but still a brat, though that's still better than this bunch of color blind idiots. The kids wearing an orange hoodie for fucks sake).

Raven honestly found the kid more interesting than the fight, while he was concealed from the camp she could see him clearly from the tree. He watched cautiously and she could tell the minute he noticed Kohva, the boy tensed like a wild animal and crouched low on instinct as if he was ready to flee or attack at any moment.

That was not the way even a boy outside the kingdoms would normally react, this caught her attention even more and she looked him over more carefully.

Ragged was the first word that came to mind, his clothing was dirty and torn in several places. It was enough that she could see a white shirt through a hole in his hoodie and the only thing keeping his sandals on was luck. Skinny was the second, the boy was scrawny enough that his clothes seemed to hang off him.

It was hard to guess his age, he was small enough that she could almost believe five but she had taken in enough starving kids that she accurately guessed seven.

When one of the Grimm managed to cause some real trouble Raven almost missed the change as well, but she saw it at the edge of her eye, where the boy had been was now a small bush.

( what the hell!) Raven thought,( is that his semblance, to turn into a bush?).

The thought was a bit too crazy and she knew there had to be more to it but she also knew that a bush had replaced a boy.

Raven decided to stick around to see where this went.

She watched as they finished the battle and had to hold back a snort at Kohva's brutality, she was known to be coldhearted but that man was destined to be shot in the back.

Raven listened as they went over their plans and this time she struggled to hold back from spitting in disgust, even she wouldn't work for the new head of the Shnee family.

When it was clear no-one would be watching Raven saw the bush turn back into the blond boy and sneak off.

She followed him, having learned all she needed to about the doomed town.

Raven found him walking in a depressed daze on the road, he was so distracted that Raven was able to silently walk just a few paces behind him for a while.

She hid herself again when he suddenly came back to reality after seeing a fork in the road.

What followed was something Raven would remember for a long time as one of the oddest and yet emotional scenes she would ever see.

The boy sat against the sign, hugging his knees, and looking sad and confused.

It was such a heartbreaking sight that even Raven felt a bit maternal, the blond hair certainly did not help.

He mumbled something to himself and stood, walking to the left.

Raven nodded mentally, there was no reason to stick his neck out for a town of strangers. It was the smart choice, this wasn't a world where a kid like him could make a difference.

Then he stopped again and paused for a long moment before continuing onward.

(It's the right choice kid, no reason to get yourself killed today) Raven thought.

As he did he talked aloud to himself, "fuck it, it's not like I can do anything about it, besides it's not my problem"

Raven was about to silently agree again but stopped when she noticed the boy had frozen in place. Raven waited, she could see the conflict on his face.

Then he spun to the right and his gaze lingered for a long moment as he saw something Raven could not.

The boy continued to the right, his steps small but determined.

(Fool) thought Raven, but there was a small grin on her face and deep down she recognized the look in his eyes. It was a look she had often seen on the faces of her old team.

Then she turned away while rolling her eyes as the boy ran to the side of the road and revealed he was wearing froggy boxers.

######

Night had fallen by the time Naruto could see the small settlement, he stayed on the edge of the forest and skirted around the town until he found the only other path leading out of it. He followed the road and eventually came to the mine entrance.

It looked just like he imagined a mine would look, a large and irregular shaped entrance in the side of a mountain, a gate of thick iron bars covered the fence to keep wild animals or worse from making it their home for the night. Next to the entrance was a small guard house just big enough for a single person to sit and stay dry in case of rain.

Naruto again hid himself away where he would be able to see the entrance and the guard house, this was where he finally saw a real Faunus. He was the night guard, a lanky young man with dark brown hair and floppy dog ears that Naruto stared at in the honestly blunt way a kid his age would.

"Whoa that's so cool" Naruto muttered to himself.

He promised himself that he would visit the town once he was sure that it would be safe from those men. The hope he had felt when he first went to the other town was back, a place where he might be welcomed.

But that was for later, right now he needed to wait for those men and hopefully have a plan.

However before long Naruto was yawning loudly, growing bored and a bit sleepy from walking all day.

With a sign and a small pop another Naruto appeared, looking at the original.

"Ok we have to keep each other awake until they get here" Naruto said to his clone.

" great idea but what about when they actually get here? Are you sure your idea will work ", Naruto B (the clone) asked.

The original Naruto grinned, knowing what his clone was talking about.

"Don"t worry so much we can do this, besides it's not like we have a lot of options" Naruto told his clone.

While he knew he could do a lot, Naruto also knew he probably weighed less than some of the weapons those men had wielded. He had still been a new academy student before coming to this place, they had barely learned how to properly throw a punch and reduce damage if they were hit.

It was clear that he could not confront them directly and the only thing that seemed to be stopping them from just destroying the town was that it would look bad for whoever had hired them.

They continued to discuss their plan but soon grew bored and started to play a quiet game of eye spy to pass the time.

It was then that the guard leaned forward and rested his head on his arms while yawning loudly, before long he was fast asleep.

The group moved quickly, six men filed into the mine while Kohva and the man who could put others to sleep stayed at the entrance to keep watch.

Naruto and his clone continued to watch the entrance, before too long he saw the men return to the entrance and leave while the guard slowly awoke after they left the scene.

Naruto waited for a few minutes before he had his clone go up to the entrance while he went around to be out of the guards sight.

Naruto soon heard his clone begin distracting the guard.

" hey there mister what are you doing?" asked Naruto's clone.

The guard blinked for a moment in surprise at the sight of a kid walking up to him in the middle of the night.

To a human the sight would have sent chills down their spine, all they would have seen in the dim glow of the single light above the entrance was the reflection of light on animalistic blue eyes in the dark.

To a Faunus however the moon alone would have been enough to see that it was just a kid, the guard's surprise was due to how late it was.

"Hey kid what are you doing out here so late?" The guard asked, he did not recognize the boy but the town was large enough that it was no surprise he wouldn't know everyone or their kids on sight.

" I uh couldn't sleep so… what are you doing?" The clone asked.

While the two were talking Naruto began to crawl up the wall and slowly made his way over to the entrance from above.

" Couldn't sleep? Kid you can't be here this late, go home before I tell your parents." the guard said sternly.

" but uh I uh…" Naruto the clone suddenly paused in shock as the sound of shifting rock was lightly heard.

He could see his original self, hanging upside down from the wall by his chakra cloaked sandals and one hand. The other was holding a stone that had slipped loose in his hands and nearly crash landed on the roof of the guards small shed, along with Naruto himself.

Seeing the scene from the start left the clone silent and a bit wide eyed, this turned to panic as the guard started to turn at the sound.

" Hey uh HEY I can't go back what if you fall asleep again, who will keep watch?" the clone said loudly.

The guard turned to him in surprise.

"Oh uh you saw that? I didn't mean to, I've never fallen asleep on watch before" he said in embarrassment.

" See, your lucky I'm here. If any bad guys show up I will stop them, so show some gratitude mister, oh and don't worry I won't tell anyone you fell asleep." the clone said with a conspiratory grin.

The Faunus man grinned back, his floppy ears making him seem more friendly while the markings and eyes of the grinning boy in front of him made the child look like the embodiment of mischief.

" Well, I guess I owe you one little guy. Listen though, you can't stay here all night. It's rare but Grimm do show up sometimes, if you want you can stay here until the next shift comes by and I can walk you home." the man offered.

The clone saw his original self slip between the bars with his slim frame as quietly as he could, the moment he was out of sight the clone relaxed.

" No need I guess I can just walk back myself, see you around mister don't go falling asleep anymore." the clone said as he quickly walked out of sight, waving as he left.

The guard blinked in confusion at this strange encounter before shrugging it off.

("The kid was probably dared to walk to the mine by his friends, still it can be dangerous out here, I'll tell the mayor to spread the word to the parents") the guard thought as he resumed his duty.

On a branch of a tall tree that overlooked the mine, Raven was having very different thoughts about the blond child.

With a thought and a slash of her blade she silently portaled to the other side of the bars.

#####

At first, Naruto was amazed at the sights within the tunnels.

Small veins of glimmering crystals lined the walls, growing larger the deeper he went and providing a dim light in the dark and strange shadows on the walls.

But after he got used to the sight of what he assumed was that Dust stuff he had quickly hit a problem.

His plan had been simple, wait until the crooks left and then he could just sneak in and find the bombs. He could then drop them off anywhere outside of town, by the time the mercenaries realized what had happened, it would be too late to try again.

The inspector and his Huntsmen bodyguards would arrive and Naruto could then tell them everything, he would be a hero.

The problem was that he couldn't find the bombs, he had assumed that it would be obvious but despite making well over a dozen clones none of them could find a trace.

Now nearly an hour had passed with no luck.

" Dammit, now what the fuck am I supposed to do" Naruto said, feeling frustrated and desperate.

He slumped against a wall along with his clones in a large cavern, he began to question if he had made the right choice. If he should have warned the town or even if he should have just walked away.

######

In the deepest shadows of a tunnel Raven watched as she had all night, unlike Naruto she knew that the bombs had been hidden using a Semblance. She could even tell where they were by sensing the residual Aura left behind, Kohva had likely made the safe assumption that a bunch of miners would not have someone skilled enough to sense such a minor detail even if they had been looking for it.

("I guess now is the time to make a good first impression") thought Raven as she stepped from the shadows and into the dimly lit cavern.

#####

Naruto raised his head at the sound of footsteps echoing in the cavern, from the shadows stalked a figure in red armor with a Grimms head.

Blinking in shock it took him a moment to realize it was a woman wearing a mask.

" W-who are you?" Naruto asked nervously, he would have preferred it to actually be a Grimm.

The women said nothing, stopping at the center of the room.

A moment of silence passed as Naruto and his clones stood and began looking at each other in confusion.

" um lady?" Naruto asked.

The figure suddenly placed a hand on the hilt of a sword with a strange sheath, faster than Naruto could react she slashed through the air and sent an energy blade flying in his direction.

Naruto stepped back in shock but stopped as his back hit the wall just as the attack stuck a point above his head.

He and all his clones blinked in confusion as the figure, who had re-sheathed her weapon before Naruto could even get a clear look, began to walk down a different corridor.

Outrage replaced the shock and fear that had overwhelmed him moments ago.

" Fucking hell, you psycho…( hey boss)" Naruto stopped as one of his clones interrupted him, he turned to find the clone pointing above his head.

Naruto looked and found a small black box with a few wires connecting different sections was embedded into the wall above him.

Naruto and his clones stood blinking at each other for a moment before they scrambled into action, one clone carefully extracting what was clearly the bomb while the rest hurried to catch up with the strange woman.

She never said a word as he followed her despite the fact he kept asking her who she was and it wasn't long before he again stood in the same cavern but now a dozen clones carefully held the explosives.

Suddenly the woman walked towards him, stopping a few steps away and holding out a slender gloved hand.

"What?" Naruto asked, confused.

("Does she want money or something?") He thought.

The women held up her other hand and showed Naruto that she was holding a tiny glimmering piece of red Dust, the most common color in the mine.

Naruto stared blankly as she held it between her fingers before snapping them.

Suddenly a mini explosion of fire engulfed her hand before fading in a flash.

Naruto paled, that piece had been no larger than a grain of rice. He was not sure what was more scary, the massive crystals he had seen deeper in or the fact that her glove was not even singed.

The woman again held out her hand and Naruto realized why, with a sheepish look he took out a crystal nearly the size of an egg and handed it over.

She nodded but before she could withdraw her hand Naruto soon handed over six more of a similar size.

Unknown to him even Raven was nervous about how reckless he had been as she discreetly placed the Dust into a container at her waist, she took it to keep him from hurting himself but waste not want not she thought as she decided to visit the cave again later.

As Naruto watched, the women faced him for a moment longer before turning to leave.

" Wait, please" Naruto called out.

She stopped, smiling beneath her mask as she looked back.

" Um, thanks for helping…you know about what's going on right?" Naruto asked.

The woman finally gave a response as she nodded to him.

" Your strong right, I've never seen an attack that fast before. Why don't you help the town? Someone as strong as you could beat those guys no problem right?" Naruto questioned.

The women turned to face him fully, the eyes of her mask locking onto him.

" I don't care about the town, I just wanted to help you" she said before turning around and walking away, leaving the small figure of Naruto staring after her.

("And that is how you set the bait") Raven thought smugly as she sauntered off.

Naruto was stunned into silence for a moment as conflicting emotions warred within his mind.

He was shocked that anyone could so coldly state they didn't care about the fate of an entire town but he also couldn't deny that he felt happy as well. It may have been selfish but every child wanted to hear that he or she was important or special.

Many grew up hearing that they were the world to their families. Naruto had never been told that he mattered more than any other person or thing, no he often felt that he mattered less.

" Hmp, don't think I trust some shady chick in a mask" Naruto said as he ducked his head to hide his face as he felt it heat up.

######

The sun was just beginning to brighten up the sky when a lookout rushed to the side of a tall man gazing down upon the world before him.

" Mr. Kohva we are ready"

Standing on the edge of a cliff that overlooked the town was Mr. Kohva and his crew.

"Excellent, we will set off the explosives as soon as enough people have entered the mine. The inspector would have to be a moron not to be suspicious when they arrive but those explosives will leave no trace so he will have no choice but to deny their mining rights. They don't have the resources to hold out for an appeal" Mr. Kohva said with a smile.

Though he felt no joy from the suffering of the town he also felt no pity. His smile stemmed from the satisfaction of a plan he had been forced to hastily put together being pulled off flawlessly.

Just as the sun peeked over the horizon and the sound of men at work echoed from the mine, Mr. Kohva did the honors himself, with the press of a button a massive explosion rocked the valley.

The men stood frozen in shock after the explosion, the Mine had not collapsed. No it had not been harmed at all, the explosion had come from a different location.

That was far from the only shock these men were facing, the bombs had not only gone off in the wrong location they had gone off at the campsite, their campsite was now a smoking crater.

The men turned as one to the figure of their leader, who had yet to show any reaction.

" Do you bastards really need me to tell you what you should be doing right now" said a voice so flat and emotionless that it sounded inhuman.

The men fled into action, scurrying down the hill, no one wanted to be seen as expendable right now.

The man still looking down at the smoking remains of his base camp was silent as they left, thinking about what he would have to do and how much time he would have to fix this mess.

However, by the time he had collected himself and made his way down he found that the situation had deteriorated even further.

As he stood in the center of his destroyed tent he was told that the villagers were, as expected, on their way here. This was not the problem as he almost looked forward to the idea of ending this mess as quickly as possible, the issue was the second piece of news. The inspection teams airship was ahead of schedule, they would be here within a few hours at most.

The men who worked around their leader as this news was delivered all stopped moving, they gazed at him, knowing that they would have no choice but to abandon the job.

Mr. Kohva stood silently as he realized he had failed, he couldn't erase the village in time and the kingdom would never let the loss of the inspection team go without an investigation.

The tall and cold man stood still as the grave.

the best description one could use to describe this man's soul was an eternally frozen lake but suddenly that lake released a cracking sound that reverberated throughout his mind.

" Burn everything that we can't salvage easily, we have to leave as little evidence as possible so set the surrounding forest to burn as well… was there any sign of who did this?" he asked.

The men looked around nervously, they had found nothing about the culprit.

"Um well, you see boss( "silence")" the man that had stepped forward immediately fell silent.

Kohva was staring at a tree some distance away from the explosion where he had seen something drop, though too far and too quickly to see clearly he was sure it was orange cloth.

####

Naruto was feeling pretty damn proud of himself as he was calmly making his way around the sight of the explosion to hide until the inspector came.

It had all worked out, he had saved the Mine and hopefully the town as well. Now he just had to pop out and explain what had happened, then he would be a hero.

He couldn't help grinning to himself, there was even a small idea of maybe staying in the town. The thought of being welcomed and surrounded by praise filled his head so much he nearly walked into the person that had appeared in front of him from nowhere.

" Whoa, uh hi lady what are you doing here"

"Your being followed," she said.

"What!" Naruto asked, surprised.

The stranger pointed up to a branch of a tree behind him, clearly indicating him to climb and take a look.

Naruto quickly did so, not hesitating to use chakra to aid his speed up the tree. When he reached the branch and looked over the forest he quickly saw figures rushing through the forest and heading directly towards him. He saw the lead one look up and make eye contact, Naruto dropped to the ground and began to panic.

"How the hell did they find me, fuck I have to go now, thanks again lady" Naruto said as he turned to run away.

"You won't make it far, you saw his skill right? The moment he has you in sight your dead" the stranger told him flatly.

Naruto paused and looked back.

"Not a lot of options here lady, besides I'm pretty good at running away" Naruto said before turning back to run.

Suddenly she was next to him again, holding him in place gently as she knelt down to his level.

"You won't make it, listen kid, I can help you all you have to do is UGH" she was caught off guard when the little punk quickly nailed her in the face with a left hook.

Naruto felt a bit shocked at his own actions but the feeling he had now was the same as before, he felt like he was being manipulated somehow.

#####

Raven fell on her ass and stared at the kid that had sucker punched her. she wasn't hurt, she had barely felt it through the mask but the last thing she was expecting was for the kid to swing at her.

("this little bastard, how paranoid is he?") Raven thought.

Naruto looked at Raven and then at his fist, he dropped his hands down to his side and spun around.

Raven watched as he bolted down the road before dashing into the trees, she stood silently and began to pursue.

Naruto hadn't run for more than a minute before he was suddenly slammed shoved into a tree, he began to channel his chakra in the hopes of summoning his clones but before he had a chance he felt something swish past his cheek.

Naruto glanced to his left, there was a hole through the tree he was leaning against, inches from his face.

"What the hell lady, who the fuck are you" Naruto said.

"My name is Raven Branwen but from now on you can call me boss" Raven said, deciding subtle and gentle were not the right ways to deal with this kid.

"B..boss?"Naruto asked.

"Yes, I'm giving you a chance to join my tribe. I've been watching since the moment you decided to play hero, you have potential kid but that man can and will kill you. I tried to just leave you be but then you had to go and leave the bombs near their base and then you were dumb enough to stick around until they went off. Come with me, the tribe can protect you". Raven said, her voice now calm and proud.

Naruto looked into the eyes of the mask and then at the hole accusingly.

"You nearly stab everyone you recruit" Naruto asked flatly.

Raven moved closer, putting her blade away but staying ready in case he ran again.

"You punch everyone who tries to help you?" Raven asked back.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he stared up at her.

"Only when I smell bullshit" Naruto said back, a bit proud of himself for being calm.

The women actually seemed more amused than angry at that.

"If I wanted you dead then I could have simply never warned you. I know your not normal kid, I saw what you could do. Do you really think those men will let this go even if you escape, do you think those strangers in that town will protect you?.I am trying to keep you alive boy"Raven said.

Naruto glared back at her, though his small stature made him look more petulant than defiant.

"I don't need any help from a psycho bi…" Naruto paused as he saw Ravens hand edge toward her blade.

"Uhh… I mean I can take care of myself lady, I'm not afraid of anyone" Naruto said, his voice caught between being stubborn and nervous.

Raven moved a bit closer but stopped when she saw the boy tense.

Raven removed her mask, revealing her startling red eyes and leaving Naruto surprised at the sight of the lovely face beneath the mask.

Raven could tell now that this kid wasn't trusting, the more she tried to put on a nice act the less he was likely to trust her.

"I'm not talking about just here and now kid. Your different but people don't always like that do they? I'm willing to bet you know what it's like to be an outcast, to be unwanted? Maybe you wanted to find a home here?`` She paused.

Raven looked at him and though he said nothing it was clear she was right, even though she couldn't imagine how different he really was.

"The last thing that town would want is more danger and that's exactly what you will bring and not just from those thugs" Raven continued with a stern tone.

Naruto seemed hesitant at her words but he was clearly still defiant.

"I'm not scared, I wasn't going to stay anyway." Naruto shouted, but he felt bitter inside.

That was the way it had always been, him against the world.

"Alone?" Raven asked.

Naruto flinched, that was a little too close to what he was thinking, he glared at her to cover it up.

Raven let her stern expression go, he reminded her of herself. They had to be strong because they knew weakness would be taken advantage of.

"What's your name?" Raven asked.

There was a sudden change in his eyes, he stood straighter and tilted his chin up proudly.

"You can call me Naruto Uzumaki the awesome" Naruto said loudly.

Raven blinked at the introduction.

Suddenly Raven threw back her head and laughed.

(I like this kid's spirit, he will be a good addition to the tribe) Raven thought.

"Well, Naruto Uzumaki I think you owe me a favor so how about this, the town should be fine now but you don't belong there and those men are close, so come with me. Just for a while, let me show you that there is a place you belong" Raven said, her kind tone feeling far more genuine now.

Naruto still looked unsure but he could almost hear the sound of his pursuers getting closer.

"I don't really have a choice now, you kept me here on purpose" Naruto said.

"Yes I did, but you still have a choice so come with me, hmm lets say for six months" Raven replied.

"What! Bullshit, two months" Naruto shouted, not even sure what he was actually agreeing to.

"Three months or I leave you here" Raven said with a smile, she really did prefer not putting up a nice act.

"Dammit, fine" naruto yelled as he could now clearly hear the sound of boots stomping through the woods.

"Deal"

Raven lifted the boy up by the waist with one arm, tucking him to her side as she slashed the air, creating a portal and stepping through with the panicking Naruto.

########

The men entered the clearing only to find they had lost the trail, but Mr. Kohva burned the image of a small blond figure into his mind.

#######

The village welcomed the inspector shortly after, informing him of the strange explosion and forest fire. It did not take long before his group and the village realized something shady was going on.

The forest fire was a helpful clue.

They quickly extinguished the flames and were able to find the remains of a campsite at the epicenter of the fire.

There was little to discover amidst the ruins besides the fact that a group had been near the village. This lead the team to the only target in the area, the mine.

They soon found the holes and blade marks in walls that had been untouched for days.

An explosion, a strange group and a dust mine that was in opposition to a lot of powerful people. It did not take long for a conclusion to be made.

But why did it fail?

The town guard was questioned and they were told of strange boy that they soon found was not a resident of the town.

When they heard what the boy talked about they began to have suspicions, finding some small footprints that had survived the trampling of the workers next to the strange holes.

They were left confused, did the boy help the town? Where was he then, had he been captured? How had he gotten into the mine and how did he know what they suspect the strange group was planning.

" I can safely say that you have passed the inspection, as to what has happened here… well you can be sure that Ozpin will hear about this"

The inspector departed days later, leaving a town that was happy but concerned.

It was assumed that a kid had somehow saved the town but where was he now?

#########

Raven watched as the boy slept on the opposite side of the fire, once she was sure he was asleep she tossed an orange cloth into the flames.

As it burned she thought about what she had done, ensuring he would be noticed and chased down, stalling him from reaching the town or hiding, and having him agree to willingly join her.

The amount of time mattered nothing to her, once he joined the tribe that would be that, what mattered was that he thinks there was a time limit.

Though for the briefest moment Raven felt a pang of guilt but as she gazed at the small form curled up and snoring quietly that guilt faded.

(he belongs in the tribe, I will give him a home, a family and a purpose) Raven thought.


End file.
